Snippet #1321699

Brian acknowledged Jared’s greeting with another subdued nod, but remained otherwise silent. His question had inadvertently sparked a damned soul-baring session, like they were some group of mentally ill seeing a psychiatrist. He would have no part in it. Thin needles poised themselves at his mind – he would soon experience the stinging headache he always got when his façade of amiable socialite had reached its limit. Brian did not want to hear all this – it did not bother him in the slightest, but he was just not interested.

He would listen, though. He would force himself to. While this world was proving to be less deserted than he’d initially thought, ditching this group was not yet an option. In unknown territory, friendly relationships determined your survival. Brian did not know how the others thought about their second chance at life, but he had no interest in dying again. He had not even truly wanted to die the first time – it had merely been the right thing to do. Only hypocrites exempt themselves from their own principles, and Brian wasn’t one.

Elin Fisher, the albinogirl (as he would probably continue to refer to her), turned out to be waltzed over by a train. Brian’s opinion of her dropped, just a little. The ditzy thing had probably not given it much thought, but suicide ought to be a private affair. Why traumatize a train driver, or inconvenience the hundreds of people relying on the train to be on time? Had she secretly wanted the attention? The same thing could be asked of Jared, though Brian reserved his judgement for this man. He could have used a deserted building, or harbored a strong desire to attempt self-propelled flight, after all.

And then there was this drowned rat. Damp, dirty dreads (Brian viewed all dreads to be dirty) framed a shifty-eyed, cautious face. Judging from the singed smell emanating from her clothes, she had not truly drowned. Electrocution? Did she realize how much inconvenience that caused for whoever shared her electricity network? No, before that, would she even have cared? Brian was reminded of a similar suicide back when he still lived in student apartments. It had killed the electricity on his computer, making him lose considerable process on his thesis. He was no longer bitter about it, though – Brian had evened things out by stealing several small valuables from the guy’s room, and defaced his grave a week later. Justice.

Brian wasn’t sure he could hide his budding contempt for miss dreadlocks, so he said nothing. Still, did they have time to leisurely stand around and get to know each other? Neil and Jared seemed to be in no hurry. Would the obviously well-nourished pair help the newcomers with food and a place to sleep? Brian had killed himself after a good breakfast, so he could go without sleep and food for a little longer, but all this useless chatter was only increasing his migraine.
“Did you guys hear that?” Brian said, quickly spinning around as if he’d heard something behind him. He hadn’t, of course – he was just looking for an excuse to isolate and recompose himself. If only he had brought his music player with him…
“I’ll check it out,” he proposed, eyeing Neil to inquire to the safety of doing so.